French border closure: 'Vast majority of food and medicines will get through'
Boris Johnson has been reassuring the country after France banned passengers and freight crossing the English Channel.
Last updated 21st Dec 2020
Boris Johnson has tried to reassure the nation after France closed their borders to the UK following the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus.
In a press conference from Downing Street the Prime Minister said was very keen to clarify that the ban was only on "human-handled freight" which only makes up around 20% of the freight going to Europe.
The Prime Minister said: “Last night at 11pm, the French Government imposed restrictions on UK freight crossing to France when accompanied by a driver.
“And, so today, I chaired a meeting of the Government’s emergency COBR committee in order to co-ordinate a UK-wide response.
“And it is vital first to stress that these delays – which are only occurring at Dover – only affect human-handled freight, and that is only 20% of the total arriving from or departing to the European continent, which means the vast majority of food, medicines and other supplies are coming and going as normal.”
Mr Johnson said: “I want to stress that we in the UK fully understand the anxieties of our friends about Covid, their anxieties about the new variant.
“But, it is also true that we believe the risks of transmission by a solitary driver sitting alone in the cab are really very low.
“I want to repeat that these delays only apply to a very small percentage of food entering the UK, and as British supermarkets have said, their supply chains are strong and robust, so everyone can continue to shop normally.”
Vaccine given to 500,000 people in UK
During the press conference the Prime Minister has given, he revealed that over 500,000 people have now received the coronavirus vaccine.
Mr Johnson said: “We want to work with our colleagues, with our friends around the world, as we have from the beginning, to develop new treatments, to develop new vaccines, as we have.”
Referring to the vaccine, Mr Johnson said: “I can today announce that over half a million people, more than 500,000 people in the UK, have now received their first dose.”
Freight from France
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said emergency measures were being put in place to cope with a backlog of lorries heading for the Channel ports.
But he sought to play down the potential impact, stressing that container freight was not hit by the ban on people crossing the border and hauliers were “quite used to anticipating disruption”.
The disused Manston Airport in Kent would be used as a lorry park, while Operation Stack, the contingency measures used to queue on the M20 whenever there is disruption at the channel, was already in place.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps urged people not to travel to Kent amid the closure of the French border.
He told a Downing Street press conference: “Please don’t travel to Kent. Most people should be staying at home, everybody in Tier 4 must at stay home and in Tier 3 stay very local.
“We’re grateful also for the hauliers, the lorry drivers, for steering clear as well.
“That message has been very well understood today and as a result we haven’t seen any problems in the area.
“Most of the lorries who are there are primarily European hauliers looking to transit back across to the continent.”
Lockdown 2020: the memories
Clap for Carers
Taking place every Thursday night at 8pm, households across the UK and Ireland stepped outside their front doors to thank all key workers throughout the pandemic, clapping along for one minute with neighbours!
The final Clap for Carers took place on the 28th May with the campaign's creator Annemarie Plas thanking everybody for taking part in their masses.
The Daily Coronavirus Briefing
It became the highlight of the day, switching on our TVs at 5pm to see the daily Coronavirus briefing live from Downing Street!
Whether it was Boris himself, Chris Witty, Matt Hancock or Rishi Sunak, million tuned in everyday throughout lockdown to get an update on the figures and rules.
Captain Sir Tom Moore
He was the army veteran who stole the hearts of the nation in lockdown, raising over £30 million for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden ahead of his 100th birthday!
Captain Tom has now received a knighthood from the Queen, and there's going to be a movie made about his amazing life!
PE with Joe Wicks
Ahh... The lovely Joe Wicks! The Body Coach become the nation's PE teacher with his daily workouts on his YouTube page, with people of all ages getting involved throughout lockdown to keep fit!
Joe decided to donate all profits made to the NHS, with the fitness fanatic going on to raise a massive £580,000 following 78 workouts and 80 million views.
Rainbow pictures in windows
They brightened up our windows, doors, walls and let's face it, our days during lockdown!
The colourful designs first started to pop up when Boris Johnson announced the closure of schools, with children being urged to create the pictures to 'spread hope'.
Furlough
A word most of us had never heard of before 2020... But 'furlough' was one of the most-used terms throughout lockdown, after Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the scheme would pay for 80% of wages for people who were unable to work during lockdown.
Working from home
For those of us who weren't furloughed, working from home became the norm for a LOT of people!
Rolling out of bed five minutes before your shift, wearing your PJ bottoms in Zoom calls, and watching Netflix whilst 'working' isn't too bad after all is it?
Toilet roll shortage
Absolutely nobody saw this one coming! A world pandemic and people start hoarding... TOILET ROLL!
Yep, we still can't get our heads around this one!
Tiger King
It was the crazy Netfix series that had the world hooked during lockdown... Even if it feels like years ago since we watched the rivalry between Joe Exotic and Carol Baskin!
Homeschooling
After Boris Johnson announced the closure of schools, many parents were left having to homeschool their children, making us all realise just how hard Key Stage 2 maths really is!
Daily walks
It was the one time of the day we were allowed out of the house, so millions of people in the UK made the most of their daily walks!
Baking
If you were lucky enough to find flour on the supermarket shelves, you probably baked some form of banana bread, cookie or brownie during lockdown!
We are basically all Mary Berry now yeah?
Cutting each other's hair
Admit it, you had a go either cutting your own hair or somebody else's hair during lockdown, and it wasn't always 'salon standard'.
Panic buying
Not only was toilet roll sold out practically everywhere, people started to panic buy items such as pasta, rice, flour and eggs, leaving supermarket shelves empty!
Chanel the Parrot
For about three days, everyone in the UK was obsessed with the parrot Chanel, after her owner Sandra Hannah posted a video on Facebook asking for people in her local area in Liverpool to keep an eye out as Chanel had flown away. Thankfully, she was found soon after, and the pair even appeared on This Morning together for an interview with Holly and Phillip!
Zoom quizzes
"Who is making the quiz this week?"
Quizzes become the main source of entertainment through lockdown, with many people making and participating a variety of different daily quizzes.
There's one thing for sure, our IQ has improved!
Normal People
If you didn't fall in love with Normal People's Connell and Marianne during lockdown, were you even in lockdown?
DIY
Our homes were given about 50 makeovers and have never been cleaner!
BBQs
Albeit it was with members of your households, but due to the lovely weather we received in lockdown, BBQs were a very popular choice for dinner!
Bingo
Whether it was over Zoom, in the street, or just a game with your household, classic game Bingo helped us kill some hours during lockdown.
FaceTime with friends and family
As Boris announced we couldn't socialise with anybody outside of our households, Zoom calls and FaceTimes with family and friends were the only way to keep in contact with loved ones!
Whether it was 10 minute catch-up or a three hour de-brief, where would we be without them?
Wardrobe sort-outs
We finally had time to clear out our wardrobes and find items of clothing we actually forgot about!
Spending valuable time with family
Although lockdown had a lot of negatives, the shining light of the pandemic meant we could spend valuable time with our families, something our usual hectic lifestyles don't often allow.